21DSD: It’s OVER!

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Today was the last day of my 21 Day Sugar Detox, and I have to admit… I actually stopped caring about halfway through the day today. Jeffrey is sick with what’s probably the flu, so we spent the day cuddled on the sofa with the dogs, watching whiskey reviews on youtube…. and eating pudding. Because that’s what one does when their spouse’s body quits on them for two weeks, and you both need a very relaxed “who cares??” kind of day.

The pudding did totally make me feel gross later, but it’s been a long time since we’ve been able to have such a nice and relaxed day like today. Even with Jeff being all gross and sickly.

But, I’m glad to say the rest of the detox went amazingly. Honestly I really did try to keep blogging throughout the whole journey, but would run out of time after starting each post. I had a few slip ups when people went out of their way to make me gluten free treats for the holidays, so I had to sample the treats or hurt their feelings. The slip ups were so insignificant, that they didn’t derail me.

The Results

I’m sorry I didn’t take before photos, so you’re not going to see the after ones either ;P I’m also sorry I couldn’t find my measuring tape to take measurements, but I can tell you for certain — I lost a LOT of inches. I also lost over 7lbs… yeah, in three weeks of just eating primally and paying attention to my carb sources. It honestly wasn’t that hard to do, because I had somewhat prepped supplies around the beginning.

I believe my body really got a good “restart” because I didn’t even catch Jeff’s epic cold. There was one day where I got a sinus & stress migraine, which before going primal would last an entire week if I didn’t take my medicine that knocks me out. I took a half dose of Excedrin, and I was better in no time at all. So basically, my liver and immune system are functioning better than they have in a decade or more.

My skin did take a hit initially, with a pretty bad breakout. But a few face masks later, and it was even better than before. My blackheads that even prescription-grade cream couldn’t rid me of have even started to disappear.

However, even though my body did amazing, my brain wasn’t cured of my sugar cravings. My timing was bad when it came to curbing the cravings, because my brain was constantly being stimulated by facebook, tv, social gatherings, etc — with Christmas treats. When I was OCD about staying low carb this last summer, tracking every carb gram, I did get to the point where even fruit tasted too sweet for me — but that didn’t happen for me with the detox. But even though the timing was bad for curbing cravings, I’m super glad I decided to do my first detox when I did — not many other people can say that they healthily lost 7lbs between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Next Time

Other than the learning curve about my timing being bad to curb my cravings, I learned a few other things about myself and the program that I’m going to apply for the next time I do the detox. I’ll be starting the detox again on January 6th, with the 21 Day Sugar Detox Facebook community. Why again so soon? To curb my cravings for real this time.

I’m doing Level 2 again (like this Oregon girl is going to give up her Tillamook sharp cheddar to do Level 3, HA!) with the energy modifications (more on that later.) It’s basically a very low carb version of primally eating.

Preparation is Key

As I mentioned in my few other posts about the journey, at the start — I was low on supplies. But, I was able to get by on minimal stuff and then stock up on more than enough things to get me through the detox. I did want to cook up several things that would be good for freezing, instead of having to cook every meal from scratch. That’s something I’m definitely doing to prepare for the next round… it got pretty hard when I didn’t have any desirable leftovers on hand at lunchtime. I definitely ate more pistachios than I should have.

The new 21DSD Cookbook is out now, there’s a few recipes in there that were also in the first book, but it was a good buy. There’s several recipes, like the “buttermilk” “biscuits” that I want to make and keep on hand — my Great Lakes Unflavored Gelatin should arrive tomorrow to make those. Michelle & Henry from Nom Nom Paleo just released their cookbook and OH MY GOODNESS!!! I’m in love!!! Most of the recipes can be adapted to 21DSD if they aren’t already compliant. I even ordered a new food processor so I can make her “fried” cauliflower rice! My current food processor is wayyyy too small and just makes mush every time I attempt cauli-rice.

After Christmas, I plan on making lots of egg flower soup to freeze into single servings. We made “meatza” once with turkey (pictured above,) but it was wayyyy to moist to make a “crust.” We’ll have to try it again with ground beef. But, it made for great leftovers and got me through several stressful days. I haven’t found another 21DSD friendly soup that I like, and isn’t full of carrots (I’m seriously allergic,) but I hope to try a few out as potential freezer soups.

I ate a lot of eggs, hamburgers, and avocado. Eggs were always on hand and easy to make, hamburgers were just a matter of defrosting before I was starving… there was one day where I almost didn’t cook a burger all the way through because I was so starving. My favorite snack was my daily granny smith apple with roasted almond butter. I tried to save it until the evening, especially on workout days.

My “burgers” usually look like this — two small patties with extra sharp cheddar, and tons of veggies covering the patties. Sometimes I have a fried egg with them, or even bacon, but it’s usually just simple like this.

The one thing I couldn’t get the hang of was making bone broth from chickens in the slow cooker. Maybe it was because I used capers on the chickens when I roasted them, but it just didn’t taste all that flavorful. Plus, I couldn’t use carrots. Who knows, but I do know I need to get the hang of making bone broth ASAP.

Energy Modifications

I also started Couch to 5k over again, which helped my body get back to getting fit. We started the program about a week into the detox, and by the third week I realized I needed more fuel for my body to do that amount of exercise, so next time I’ll use the energy modifications. The reason I didn’t already use the modifications was because the book — and cookbook — are both pretty unclear about what the amount of exercise one needs to do to warrant the extra carbs. All it really says is that “20 minutes of yoga” doesn’t count — but it doesn’t say if that’s the cut off, or if it’s not a daily thing, or what — super vague. There is a section in the very back of the book that gives a tiny bit more info, but not enough. I thought that jogging half an hour every other day, with yoga and walking the dogs on the other days, wasn’t enough… well, it was. After a few days of feeling miserable and run down, I somewhat added in those extra carbs but not as much as it recommended for the energy modifications.

Since I’m getting further with C25K, doing yoga every day now, walking the dogs, and going to start throwing around the kettlebell now that the detox is over — I’m definitely following the energy modifications next time. I’m planning on having plenty of sliced butternut squash on hand to make “fries” for snacks, because I’ll need the carbs and it’ll help keep me from eating too many nuts.

Conclusion

I definitely think that anyone and everyone would benefit from doing the detox, especially after the holidays when our bodies need an extra bit of help. Even when I was a strict primal follower this summer, I didn’t feel as great as I feel now. If anyone wants more info or a bit of personalized direction without having to join any special community, don’t ever hesitate to contact me. I’ve become a total geek about our bodies, with my own auto-immune disease and Poppy’s Parkinson’s Disease. Now more than ever, we need to be better stewards of our bodies and brains. It isn’t a journey one should take alone!

Reader Interactions

Comments

you go girl!! this wasn’t the best time – with all the temptation around – to go on the detox – but wow, you did great!!
I still have to dive in the Nom Nom Paleo cookbook but the preview on Amazon got me tempted and I had to buy it too! :-))

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Meet Meg

Hey all! Welcome to Our Misadventures, which is a mix of my personal and business blog. I'm Meg, I'm a full-time social media strategist with a passion for lifting up small businesses and entrepreneurs.

I'm an adventure and travel addict, married to my best friend (cliché but true,) I love good tea all throughout the day – and sometimes relax with a good book. I'm a huge advocate of primal eating & living, and a slave to two small puppy dogs and two round guinea pigs.